Pigs of History and Titans of Entertainment

Art for the kids, Muppet history lessons and a night at the Symphony with legends. There’s a little something for everyone today. AND, I’ll have a part two for you tomorrow as well. It’s like Christmas in July, only it’s August.

Review: Alice Hill – Disney Art Academy for Nintendo 3DS

When I started Disney Art Academy, I have to admit, my expectations weren’t the highest. The DS has had a history of ‘educational’ games that ended up being poorly designed and cranked out en masse. I had assumed the same thing of the Art Academy series, and I was absolutely wrong to. This game series is actually… really educational!

The game itself is incredibly relaxing in a way that brings to mind the current trend of adult coloring books. You slowly, step by step construct an illustration you’re shown, and along the way learn surprisingly great lessons about art using Disney characters!

I’m an art student focusing on sequential art, so I expected this game to be very very basic with how it worked (I.E.: Just copy Mickey’s face. Just do it. Wow. Art!) but each different section of the game had surprisingly good lessons I wish I’d had when I was just starting out drawing.

The game discusses line of action, use of warm and cool colors in light and shadow, and how to use light and form to give a character volume in really, incredibly simple ways. If you have a kid interested in animation, or at least in character design, I’d pick up this game for them.

I really don’t have too many gripes with this game, but the limitations of the touch sensitivity of this system can make trying to create perfect replicas of the images you’re shown difficult at best, incredibly frustrating at worst. There’s no pressure sensitivity on the 3DS (as far as I’m aware) so the game tries to compensate for this with some brushes’ line width thickening with speed, which can make creating consistent, thick lines difficult. But you appreciate them for trying. I also burned through this game in just about a day, and while it has many, many free draw sections, that can be disheartening for the price point of 3DS games nowadays.

All in all, though, it’s a fantastically relaxing game. The music’s very relaxing, the NPC dialogue is hilarious, and the illustrations you create can end up being very charming, with unique palettes and poses! If you’re a Disney fan with money to burn, I recommend this title. Or if you have a young artist in your family, consider getting this for them, just know that the repetitive slow nature of the game might not be good for very young players.

If you’re curious about how the lessons work, check out these fun instructional videos:

INTERMEDIATE LESSON

ADVANCED LESSON

Muppet History Show to Debut in Liberty Square

According to sweet, beleaguered Mr. S (should have checked on that Hong Kong thing, though, honey bunny.) “Beginning this fall, the Muppets will be visiting Magic Kingdom Park, where they’ll take part in an all-new live show, ‘The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History.’

Chloe Rice, photographer

“Sam Eagle, the fiercely patriotic American eagle who is forever trying to set a high moral standard for the Muppets, will join Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo and James Jefferson, town crier of Liberty Square, as they gather outside The Hall of Presidents to present historical tales in hysterical fashion as only they can. From the midnight ride of Paul Revere to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Muppets appear throughout the day to share with Guests, their own unique take on the founding fathers and the birth of the United States of America.

“Featuring an original song (Fab:Did you get @Lin_Manuel to write it while he was fixing visiting Moana?) and plenty of wacky Muppets humor, “The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History” will make its debut in October 2016.”

Roy Disney to be Honored at Star-Studded Golden Clef Awards

On August 20 The La Mirada Symphony Association will be presenting the First Annual Golden Clef Awards honoring individuals and organizations having made a significant and lasting impact on concert music and the musical arts. This year’s honorees are Shirley Jones, Paul Williams, Roy Disney, represented by the Disney family with special guest, Dave Bossert, and Supporter; Supervisor Don Knabe.

This event will be presented at the beautiful La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. The evening will begin with a silent auction in the foyer followed by the evening’s events. Hostess for the evening will be actress, speaker, Morgan Brittany, who will talk to the honorees about their personal stories in the world of entertainment with film clips and musical tribute by Broadway performers, Rex Smith, James C. Mulligan and Carly Bracco with Richard Allen at the Piano.

An after party for VIP guests will allow attendees to meet the honorees, enjoy hors d’oeuvres and have their pictures taken with them.

What the La Mirada Symphony provides:

FREE community concerts at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

Free daytime concert performances for youth from private and public schools in the area

Honors Orchestra, where young student musicians perform onstage with the orchestra

Merit Awards to especially talented young musicians who perform at our youth concerts

Instrumental ensemble visits to schools to stimulate and educate in the music genre

Master Classes provided to music classes at the community public schools

We believe that the joy of fine music in the lives of our young people is essential to their development and has been proven to be a stimulus for higher learning.

We sincerely hope that you share our belief that the arts are a real need, not an accessory, in our culture. Help us with your donation to bring our ‘Gift of Music” to the community youth and adults.

Oh, and their President is our very own, deeply beloved, Joe Yakovetic. for the educational and Joe reasons ALONE we should be throwing handfuls of cash at these nice people, even without the fantabulous entertainment they have in store for us. You say Mama Partridge, I say Maaaaaarian, Madame Libraaaaaaarian! How many shots can we buy JCM to get him to to do a speed painting on the back of a cello for a 10K donation? THEY ARE GOING TO SHOW THE WHOLEENTIREDESTINO!!!

(And the man with the wavy hair is Matt, who also appears in some of the photos I’ve shown you of Noe’s orchestra. He does that for free so the students can watch him and learn. That’s what these people do when they’re not all playing together here. They are everyday superheroes.)

Purchase tickets for the Golden Clef Awards on Saturday August 20 at 7pm, through the La Mirada Theatre Box Office or call 562-944-9801. $100 VIP tickets include an after show reception to meet the cast and honorees, actress Shirley Jones and songwriter Paul Williams. All other seats are $60. The Golden Clef Awards are the major fundraiser for the La Mirada Symphony. Patrons will be supporting the free admission concerts of the regular La Mirada Symphony season.

MiceChat Readers Get a Discount On Regular Priced Tickets!

Thank you!

Due to some technical difficulties, I have to do half today and half tomorrow…so see you tomorrow with History, Movies and more! Thanks to my Patreon Patrons and to DVCResaleMarket.com for supporting Fab News. I truly can’t do it without you! And right now, if you mention MiceChat when you buy or sell DVC points at DVCResaleMarket.com, you’ll get a yummy $50.00 off your closing costs! Check them out today!

Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill: . She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.